Kanu Gandhi

Kanu Gandhi (1917 – 20 February 1986) was an Indian photographer. He was a grandnephew of Mahatma Gandhi who lived with him in several of his ashrams and was a member of his personal staff. He is best remembered as Gandhi's photographer, recording many moments of Gandhi's life on film from 1938 until his assassination in 1948. Following Gandhi's death, Kanu and his wife Abha moved to Rajkot where they ran a rural centre named after Kasturba Gandhi.

Kanu was born to Narandas Gandhi, a nephew of the Mahatma's and a manager at his Sabarmati Ashram, and Jamuna Gandhi in 1917. Kanu spent his early life with his parents in the ashram at Sabarmati – where his parents moved to when he was only two - and, later, at Wardha. He received his education at the Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad.

Only 15, he was jailed for his participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement. Although he wanted to be a doctor, that was not to be and he joined Gandhi’s personal staff at Wardha where he supervised clerical, correspondence and accounting functions from 1936 till 1948.

Kanu was nicknamed "Bapu's Hanuman" and was close to the Mahatma. In 1944, on Kasturba’s wishes and Gandhi’s blessings, he married Abhaben Chatterjee, who had been adopted by the Gandhis and had been with them since she was 13 and who came to be known as "one of Gandhi's walking sticks".

It was Shivaji Bhave, Vinobha Bhave’s brother, on a visit to Wardha, who first asked Kanu to take up photography to capture events at the Ashram. When Kanu approached Gandhi with the request, Gandhi turned him down due to paucity of funds. The industrialist GD Birla, an associate of Gandhi’s gave Kanu ₹100 to buy his camera, a Rolliflex, and a roll of film. From 1938 until Gandhi’s death ten years later, Kanu took many personal photographs of the Mahatma.

Gandhi allowed Kanu to photograph him on three conditions: that he use no flash, that he never be asked to pose and that his photography would not be funded by the Ashram. Kanu met the costs of photography through a monthly stipend of ₹100 paid to him by Amritlal Gandhi of Vandemataram who had purchased a photograph of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel from him. He also sold some of his photographs to newspapers and over time he began to produce images on a daily basis. Kanu also made films of Gandhi including one of his march in Noakhali in 1947.

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